Machine for binding tablets.



C. F. TAYLOR. MACHINE PGR :BINDING TABLETS.

c. 1". TAYLUE. MACHINE FOR BINDING TABLIITS.

APPLIUATION FILED JUNE 22, 1907 3 SHEETS-*SHEET 2.

le i: geg WITNESSES: I INVENTOR.

` l Taylw;

ATTORN Peeented Feb.14,1911.

G. P. TAYLOR. MACHINE IoII BINDING TNBLBTS. A l APPLIOATIO FILED JUNE22, 1907.

Patented Feb. 14, 1911.

` INVENTOR.

A TTORNE paper, whether plain or ruled, are bound to-V y UNITED ysTaTEsPATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES F. TAYLUR, F HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT.

MACH'INE FQCR BINDING TABLETS.

Specicatioh of `Ietters Patent.

f Application led June 22, 1907.

Patented Feb. 14, 1911. serial an. 380,221. 1

Toall whom 'it may concern: l

Be it known that l, CHARLES F. TAYLOR, a citizen of the United States,and resident of Hartford, inthe county of Hartford and State ofConnecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inMachines for Binding Tablets, of which the following is a full,'clea'r,and exact specification.

This invention relates to tablet or pad machines, and more especially tothat class thereof in which a number of sheets of gether by means oftape which at the same timesecures the top cover firmly to the backboard wit-hout however interfering with the removal of the several.sheets of paper, which latter are usually first solidified at one edgeby gelatin-gum and subsequently reinforced and covered by'tlie'tapeabove referred to, thus producing a book of stationery, the severalleaves of which maybe readily pulled out, one by one, without'a'ffecting the covers. y

My invention has forits primary object the provision of a simple machineinto which the tablets are consecutively fed, and the binding tapeI isproperly pasted in place so as to secure the covers together.

My invention has, furthermore, for its object the provision of propertape-guiding means whereby the tape' is positioned relatively tothetablet so as to project over and adhere to the covers for the required'distance.

A further object of the invention resides in the provision of improvedtape-,pressing or ironing devices for producing smooth and uniformwol-inno matter whether the tablet be. thick or thin,` orwhether itsedge is flat or wavy. My invention has,` furthermore, for its object theprovision of a tape-gumming mechanism whichis automatic. in its actionandl lays a film of gum or glue on the tape preparatory to the lattersengagement with the tablets as they pass through the machine.

l Other objectsof the invention will hereinafter appear andbeparticularly pointed out in the claims. l -1 ln-the accompanyingdrawings, in which similar characters denote similarparts, Figure 1 is atop view of tabletb1ndingmachine embodying my invention. Fig. l2 shows afront view thereof. Fig. 3 represents a longitudinal vertical sectiontaken on line 3-3 of Fig.. 1. 4 is a vertical crosssection taken on line4--4 of Fi 1, and Fig. 5 illustrates the manner in w ich the tape isapplied to the tablets.

Briey'stated, the tablets -to be ta l d are .fed by the operator to acontinuous movmg endless carrier-chain which is provided with a seriesof'tabletengagi'ng devices so disposed as to leave a small space betweenthe rear edge of one tablet andthe front edge of the succeeding one inwhich condition the several successive tablets are carried betweensuitable guiding rollers into contact with the tape which has its innerface provided with a film of gumor glue and is pressed against the backofthe tablet, as

well as laid over the edge of the top cover and back board thereof. Thetape is pulled along by the. movement of the tablet to which it adheres,and the several succeeding tablets are thus bound in what may be termeda continuous manner, -so that the gaps, between the successive tablets'are bridged by said tape, which latter may be cut by a suitablemechanism or by hand, in order to sever the several tablets. which arethen discharged from the machine by the movement of the carrier chain.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral denotes a table having 4a smoothtop and adapted to support the tablets which are placed thereon by tbeoperator at O, so as to rest .with their back-edges against a series ofvrollers 11, which are journaled on studs 12 fixed on frame lorbedisupport 13, extend ing the entire length of the machine andsupported by legs 14. In order not to obscure some parts of thevmachine-mechanism, the tablets T', T2, T3 on thev table in Fig. 1 areindicated by dot and dash lines, While in the other figures they areshown in full.

Disposed at the left hand end of the-machine, is a shaft 15 jonrnaled inbearings 16,.

17, and supporting 4a -loose pulley 18 which may be clutched to theshaft by a collar 19 under the control ofthe operator by means of alongitudinally-'disposed shipper shaftjournaled in bearings21, 22 andprovided with handles 23. Secured to the. shaft 15, is asprocket wheel24 for drivingachain 25 which constitutes the tablet-carrier of the.machine and the upper run of which is supthence around an idler 31 cnashaft 3 2 jcurl naled in bearings 33, 34 disposed at the right hand endof the machine. Secured at certain predetermined points of the chain area series of tablet-engaging devices or pushers 35, the distance betweenwhich may be varied as desired and' to correspond to the length of thetablets to be o erated upon. In the present instance, the ength of thechain is such as to provide for seven distance-s aces, and it. will beunderstood that -if the c ain be shortened or lengthened to accommodateeither a less number of greater spaces, or a greater number of smallerspaces, the idlers 27, 28, will permit this action and keep the cha-intight.

Each tablet, as it is placed on the table by the operator issuccessively engaged at its rear or right hand end by the first pushercoming into action, and is then caused to roll of t-ape R is sup Ortedon uprights 45 which form a part o a frame 46 carrying a tank 47 whichcontains glue or similar adhesive. Under ordinary circi'imstances Iconsider. glue to be best suited for the present needs, and means areprovided for maintaining said glue in soft and plastic condi-- tions,these means consisting substantially of a heat'chamber arranged belowthe gluecompartment of the tank 47 and adapted to be kept hot by theintroduction of steam entering the same through a steam-supply pipe 48,a pipe 49 being provided to carry off cony:sa

ensation in said chamber. From the supply roll R, the tape t isconductedover a roller 50, then around a gravitative loopingroller 51 whereby theroll is unwound as needed, andbetween the jaws of a stationary. tensiondevice 52, whence the tape passes into peripheral vcontact with aguinm-ing roller 53 which is journaled on the frame 46 and transfers theglue in the tank 47 to the underside of the tape t.

.From the gum-roller 53, the tape passes over idlers 54, 55, and is thengiven a quartter turn so that its width will-now be disposedvertically,.in which condition it passes over and partially around the'roller 40 previously mentioned, and into contact withthe back-edge ofthe tablet.l v

The Width ofthe tape is generally about from one half inch to one inchgreaterlthan the thickness of the tablets to be bound'so that the tapeedges can lay-over the tablet sufficiently to take a firin hold on boththe to -cover and the bottomboard, and, in or er to insure a pro erguiding of the tape so that such overay may be alike on top and bottom,or at least to prevent any variation from the parallelism of the tapeedge with the tabletl edge, I deem it expedient to pass the tapebetween' a pair of guide-fingers G0, (il disposed adjacent the tape roll40 and mounted for adjustment vertically on a stud 62 which is securedto the frame 13. In this manner the line of tape-travel is positivelypositioned relatively to the back-edge of the tablet, and the amount ofover-lay can be regulated as desired.

. In order to assist the tape-guiding devices, I provide means forholding the tablet against the table, a feature which becomes necessaryin practice on account of the natural tendency of the tablet to rise andalso on account of the vertical undulations of the backedge. In thepresent instance I have shown for this purpose a presserblade (35preferably mounted atone end on a horizontally disposed spindle, 6G,journaled in a bea-ring 67 and having an arm G8 which is pulled downwardby a spring' 69, so that the blade 65 normally tends to hold thebackedge of the tablet down, and yet may be thrown upward and out of theway when-desi-red. Furthermore, the construction will permit the bladeto accommodate itself to different thicknesses of tablets withoutrequiring any special adjustment.

Inasmuch as under the conditions above described, the edges of the tapewill project above and below. the limits of the back-edge of the tablet,mea-ns are provided to turn both tape-edges over the tablet, subsequentto the adhesion of its main or body portion therewith, which latterresult is achieved by employment of a flattening roller 70 mounted ona'spring-actuated frame 71, pivotally supported on the stud of theroller 40. By virtue of'this organization, any variations from astraight-line travel of the back edge of the tablet cannot influence theproper operation of the roller 70.

The function of turning-over the edgeportions of the tape, may beperformed in many different ways, and experience has shown that a commonstiff-bristle brush, such-as is shown at- 72 in Fig. 1 will answer theintendedpurpose as well as if not better than, any other, the bristlesnaturally touching every portion of the tape and therefore producing a.full-surface contact between tape and tablet. The brush 72 is alsomounted for adjustment relative to the tablet-travel, by being securedupon a vertical arm 73 of 'a holder 74 which is clamped to aspring-actuated block-7 5 swiveled in a rod 76 and tending to force saidbrush' toward the tablet, its inward movement being limited by a stop77. After passing the brush at 85 on an ear projecting l successivelyandi' 87 is gravitative. and

i justable 7 2, the tape is edge-rolled by a' combination rollercomprising in its preferred form three independent elements, viz. aback-edge roller 80, a top stretcher 81, and a bottom stretcher 82 (seeFig. 3), all of Which are mounted for free rotation spring-actuatedframe 811 Whichis pivoted from the frame 13. Of these, the roller 80serves to roll the back-edge While the stretchers by virtue of theirinitial inward rotation tend to stretch the tape edges, and by theWeight of the, top roller S1 press the stretched edges into closecontact with the tablet. From the combination roller, the tablets arecarried past a stationary guide roller SG and between a air of what maybe termed ironing rollers 87, 88, which flatten the turned-over portionsof the tape aga-inst the tablet, and the lower one, 88, of which maybefrictionally driven by a belt 89 connecting the pulley 90 on theroll-shaft 91, with a driving pulley 92 secured on the main power shaft15 previously mentionedl The upper roller rests on top ot the tablet.After passing the. ironing rollers 87, 88, the taped tablet-edge isagain subjected to the naled on a stud 91 carried by a springactuatedswinging frame 95 pivoted at 96 on the frame 13. l

From the foregoing it Will be understood, by recapitulation, that thetape is rst positioned relatively to the tablet, then edgedvover by thebrush, then stretched, then ironed on top and bottom and finallybackrolled, the several operations taking place rapidly While t-he gumor glue is setting.

-The several elements `inst enumerated cooperate Witli the preset-deviceP which engages the tablet at its front edge, and, inasmuch as more orless unevenness exists in such edge, the presser device is slightlyresilient, as is illustrated in Fig. 1, in which the rollers l11, -lfQare shown mounted in a bar 100 which is movably held underadspring-pressure relatively to a stationary holder 101 adapted to beadjusted transversely of the table 10, to accommodate tablets ofdifferent widths, by thumbscrews 102 in enga gement with suitablc'nuts'shiftable in slots 103 provided in the table 10. A spring-blade 104:issecured to the stationary the front edge of the tablet from risingunder the lateral pressure of the tape-manipulating device at the otheredge of the tablet,

on a stud 83 held in aaction of a back-roller 93 jour holder 101 andserves to prevent` While at the same time such vblade will operate ontablets of different thicknesses and its tension will increase inproportion to such thickness. After passing the tape-applying devices,the tablets will be guided by a roller 105 to and between a pair otfinishing rollers 106, 107 (see Fig. the loiver 107 is stationary, Whilethe upper is mounted orrotation on a comparatively heavy slide 108guided on pins 109 attached to a bracket which is secured to the frame13. The tablets being noW taped, Will be discharged by the movement ofthe carrier chain 25, it being understood, of course, that the tapeportions which connect the several tablets in the manner indicated by Cin Figs, 2, 3 and 5, are cut, either by automatic mechanism, or byanother attendant who can take Careof replenishing the tape-supply andits introduction into the machine at the rear of the table, at theI sametime.

In conclusion it should be noted that the body portions of the severalvertical rollers extend slightly below the top level of the table sothat a proper engagement between said rollers and the respectivetablet-edges will always be assured.

vMany changes may be made in the general organization ot' the severalcoperative elements, or in their particular construction, withoutdeparting from thespirit ot' the invention.

I claim: 1. The combination, with a table, and means for feeding tabletssuccessively over said table, of means for applying tape to one edge ofthe tablets, a movable bar operative onthe other edge of the tablets forguiding said tablets into contact with the tape-applying means, astationary member on the table, and springs interposed between said barand member; 2. The combination, ivith a table, and means for feeding atablet over said table, of means for app ying tape to one edge of thetablet, a yielding presser bar operative on the other edge of the tabletfor pressing the same into contact with the tape-applying means. meansfor varying the pressure of said yielding member, and a pair ofindependent. spring-actuated devices for maintaining the opposite edgesof the tablet in contact with the table top.

CHARLES F. TAYLOR.

Witnesses J AMES E. HAMILTON, Criss. F. SoHMnLz.

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